Die handling attachment for presses



Sept. 7, 1965 J. F. SCHON DIE HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR PRESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 21, 1963 INVENTOR. JOHN F Sum/v ATTOR'A/[Y Sept. 7, 1965 J. F. scHoN DIE HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR PRESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1963 INVENTOR JOHN E 5c/10/v g/MMQ A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,204,292 DIE HANDLING ATTACNT FOR PRESSES John F. Schon, Union, 'NJ., assignor of one-third to Werner C. Schon and one-third to John 0. Schon, both of Mountainside, NJ.

Filed Mar. 21, 1963, 'Ser. No. 266,864 3 Claims. (Cl. 18-'16) This invention relates to hydraulically operated and similar presses and, particularly, to an attachment for assembling and separating dies and for feed of the dies into position in the press and removal of the same therefrom. More particularly, the invention deals in an attachment of the character described, wherein one of the dies is mounted upon a swinging frame, the pivots of which are movable into and out of engagement with said frame.

Still more particularly, the invention deals with an attachment of the character described, wherein said pivots, in combination with other guide and support pins, serve to maintain the swinging fname in alinement with the companion sliding and other die supporting frame of the attachment.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from the following description, when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosed and, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of part of a hydraulic press, showing one of the attachments mounted thereon, illustrating part of the attachment in one position in full lines and in other positions in dot-dash lines and on the press in dot-dash lines, with parts of the construction broken away and in section.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the attachment, showing part of the construction and with parts broken away and in elevation and indicating one of the dies in dot-dash lines.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the attachment, with parts generally in the position indicated in full lines in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through part of the attachment, showing the die supporting plates, with parts of the dies thereon in closed position, preparatory for delivery upon the press.

In illustrating one adaptation and use of the invention, an attachment is shown mounted upon the table or head of a hydraulic press, indicated, in part, in FIG. 1 of the drawing. In FIG. 1, 11 shows the upper portion of the base of the press, in which a hydraulically actuated cylinder 12 is movable in movement of the table or head 10 toward and from the top plate 13 of the press in the operation of forming predetermined products between a pair of dies, later described. At 14 is generally shown the attachment, which comprises a table 15, the upper surface 15' of which will be in alinement with the upper surface 10 of the table or head It) when the attachment is mounted on 10 through the medium of a transversely long bracket 16 fixed to the lower surface of the table 15 by spaced bolts 17 and to the face of the table 10 by other spaced bolts 18, one only of each of the spaced bolts being shown, but it will be understood that others will extend across the attachment.

Fixed to sides of the table 15 are long angle-iron guide rails 19, as by screws 20 spaced along the sides of 15, one side showing only of this coupling being indicated. The inwardly extending portions 21 of the rails are spaced above the surface 15' of 15, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing, and form, in conjunction with 15, channels 22, in which one die supporting plate 23 is 3,204,292 Patented Sept. 7, 1965 slidably mounted, sides of the plate 23 being grooved to receive 21, as clearly shown in FIG. 2.

The companion die supporting plate 24 is generally of the same contour as the plate 23, except for the grooved sides, the plate 24 at What might be termed its inner end has fixed to the lower surface thereof blocks 25, one of which is shown in sectional detail in FIG. 4 of the drawing, the blocks having channel portions 26 and, transversely of the channel portions, the blocks have pivot pins 27. It will also be noted clearly in FIG. 3 of the drawing that the plate 24 is recessed or channelled, as seen at 28, to register with the channels 26. The other outer end portion of the plate 24 has a pair of arms 29 fixed to sides and projecting beyond said end of the plate, the arms 29 supporting a crossrod 30, to which a suitable handgrip 31, note FIG. 3, is secured for manipulation of the plates 23 and 24 and the dies 32 and 33 fixed to adjacent surfaces of said plates. The dies 32 have registering cavities 34 and 35 for molding or otherwise forming a suitable end product such, for example, as a rubber or synthetic rubber ring 36, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1. The dies are suitably fixed to the respective plates by screws, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1, and the dies have alinement pins and sockets for proper registration of the dies, the pins being indicated at 32' on 32 and 33' on 33 in FIG. 1 of the drawing. It will be understood that suitable means will be provided for registration of the dies on each of the plates 23 and 24.

Suitably supported on the lower surface of the table 15 centrally thereof is a depending casing 37, the structural details of which will not be dealt with, except in pointing out that opposed sides of the upper portion of this casing are recessed, one of these recesses being clearly shown at 38 in FIG. 1 for reception of a crossbar 39,

.to which is attached centrally 2. depending rack 40 shown,

in part, in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the rack 40 operating in connection with a gear 41 arranged in a housing portion 37' of the casing 37, the axis 42 of the gear projecting through one side of the casing or housing sufliciently to extend beyond one side of the attachment, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing, and adjustably clamped to the end of the axis 42 is a manually openating lever 43, shown in FIG. 3, for actuating the gear in move ment of the bar 39 upwardly and downwardly in the guide apertures 38, as will be apparent. At this time, it is pointed out that the manual operation herein diagrammatically illustrated is by way of indicating one method of procedure. Other means can be employed for actuating the bar 39 and the associated parts thereof, later described.

Supported in recessed ends 39' of the bar 39 and fixed thereto, as diagrammatically seen in FIG. 2, are side pin supporting strips 44, in one end portion of which are attached alinement pins 45 and in the other end of which are supported other alinement pins 46, the latter pins having forked or recessed upper ends 47, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawing, in which the pivot pins 27 operate to provide swinging movement of the top plate 24, which swinging movement is indicated, in part, in dotted lines in FIG. 1 of the drawing. However, when the pins 27 are seated in the recesses 47 of the guide pins 46 and the upper ends of the pins 45 bear upon the lower surface of the plate 24, this plate 24 is then maintained in parallelism with respect to the plate 23, so as to maintain alinement of adjacent surfaces of the two dies 32 and 33 in movement of said die into engagement with each other, as well as in separating the dies, as indicated in full lines in FIG. 1.

From the foregoing, operation of the attachment will be apparent from a consideration of FIGS. 1 and 3, as well as the showings in FIGS. 2 and 4 and the following statement.

We will assume that an end product, such as the ring 36, has been formed. Now, to remove this product, the plate is swung upwardly, asindicated, in part, in dotted lines in FIG. 1 and the ring will then be removed from the die 32. In this upward swinging movement, 24 can be moved into a position where the forward end would rest upon the face 13 of the press. If any cleaning operations are necessary, it will be apparent that the upper surface of the die 32, as well as the lower surface of the die 33, will be readily accessible for performing this operation. Then, another workpiece suitable for forming another ring will be placed in the cavity 34 of the die 32, the plate 24 swung down to the full line position of FIG. 1; whereupon, the operator will actuate the means employed which, in the present structure, is the lever 43 to rotate the gear 41 sufficiently to move the crossbar 39, as well as the strips 44 and the pins 45 and 46 to the dotted line showing of FIG. 1, in which the pins 45 and 46 Will clear the lower surface of the plate 23 and the dies 32 and 33 will be brought into engagement with each other. Now, the operator grasps the handle 31 and slides the die assemblage, including the plates 23 and 24, into position above the table or head of the press, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1; whereupon, the press is operated to raise the table or head 10 to bring the top plate 24 into pressure engagement with the lower surface 13' of 13, so that the desired forming operation can be performed with presses of this type and kind within the cavities 34 and 35 of the dies, so as to produce the resulting end product such, for example, as the ring 36-. In some instances, heat is also applied by the press employed in performance of this operation in manners well known in the art. In the aforesaid operation, it will be understood that the entire attachment moves upwardly with the table or head 10. After the desired operation has been performed, the table or head 10 is moved downwardly to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 1. The operator then grasps the handle 31 of the attachment and slides the plates 23 and 24, including the dies, forwardly to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 1, which movement is checked by the stop 48; whereupon, the top plate 24 is moved into the raised position, separating the dies, as shown in full lines in FIG. 1, and the aforesaid cycle of operation will be repeated in forming the next successive end product.

With an attachment of the character defined, it will be understood that all manual handling of the dies which is commonly practiced in operations of this type and kind is dispensed with and the desired results can be accomplished very efficiently and at a considerable saving of time. Attachments of this type and kind can be utilized in the handling and movement of workpieces of any type or kind toward and from presses in saving time in being assured of proper alinement and in obviating manual handling of workpieces, such as the dies, which, in many instances, are quite heavy and, from this standpoint,

become tiresome for an operator to handle in a usual work day.

It will be understood that the mounting of the attachment in connection with a press, such as the table or head 10, will be suitably adjustable so that proper alinement of the lower plate 23 with the surface. of 10 or any other member or the like arranged on 10 will be provided. Still further, the degree of relative movement between the plates 23 and 24 will be varied to suit the die structure employed, the rods 46 and 47 being formed of a length to suit this movement. For purposes of description, the dies can be referred to as workpieces and the plates 23 and 24 as means supporting the workpieces. The two plates being joined through the medium of the workpieces may further be said to comprise a. slide of the attachment for moving workpieces into operative position in the press and into inoperative or accessible position spaced with respect to the press. Still further, the strips 44, in combination with the crossbar 39, may be said to comprise an H-frame, in connection with which the two pairs of rods 45 and 46 are coupled and which frame is actuated through operation of the rack 40 and gear 41 operatively engaging said rack.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An attachment of the character defined comprising a table, a pair of angleiron rails at sides and projecting beyond one end of the table, said rails, in combination with the table, forming channels, a workpiece slide comprising a bottom plate and a freely removable top plate, the bottom plate being guided in the channels of said rails, workpiece means arranged between adjacent surfaces of said plates, means comprising an H-shaped frame supporting two pairs of rods, said rods being movable through the bottom plate in moving the top plate toward and from the bottom plate when the slide is arranged over said table, means pivotallysupporting the top plate in connection with one pair of said rods in gaining access to said workpiece means, the other pair of rods engaging the lower surface of the top plate, said H-shaped frame having a central crossbar directly supporting centrally thereof a rack, and means operatively engaging said rack for moving said H-shaped frame in both directions.

2. An attachment as defined in claim 1, wherein said H-shaped frame moves all of said rods simultaneously below the bottom plate to free the slides for movement longitudinally of said channels.

3. An attachment as defined in claim 1, wherein one pair of rods have forked upper ends engaging pivot pins supported on and below the lower surface of the top plate, said pivot pins being exposed through the lower surface of the top plate, and the engagement of the pivot pins with said forks and the other pair of rods with the top plate maintaining said top plate in parallel relationship to the bottom plate in movement ofv said plates toward and from each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 12,542 10/00 Barker.

777,086 12/04 Emery.

935,246 9/09 Copeland 25-120 X 2,365,849 12/44 Strauss 18-16 2,859,477 11/58 Millhoff 18-2 X 2,929,104 3/60 Hutton 18-39 2,958,897 11/60 Millhoif 18-2 2,983,953 5/61 Borah 18-16 J. SPENCER. OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. WILLIAM K. STEPHENSON, Examiner. 

1. AN ATTACHMENT OF THE CHARACTER DEFINED COMPRISING A TABLE, A PAIR OF ANGLEIRON RAILS AT SIDES AND PROJECTING BEYOND ONE END OF THE TABLE, SAID RAILS, IN COMBINATION WITH THE TABLE, FORMING CHANNELS, A WORKPIECE SLIDE COMPRISING A BOTTOM PLATE AND A FREELY REMOVABLE TOP PLATE, THE BOTTOM PLATE BEING GUIDED IN THE CHANNELS OF SAID RAILS, WORKPIECE MEANS ARRANGED BETWEEN ADJACENT SURFACES OF SAID PLATES, MEANS COMPRISING AN H-SHAPED FRAME SUPPORTING TWO PAIRS OF RODS, SAID RODS BEING MOVABLE THROUGH THE BOTTOM PLATE IN MOVING THE TOP PLATE TOWARD AND FROM THE BOTTOM PLATE WHEN THE SLIDE IS ARRANGED OVER SAID TABLE, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING THE TOP PLATE IN CONNECTION WITH ONE PAIR OF SAID RODS IN GAINING ACCESS TO SAID WORKPIECE MEANS, THE OTHER PAIR OF RODS ENGAGING THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE TOP PLATE, SAID H-SHAPED FRAME HAVING A CENTRAL CROSSBAR DIRECTLY SUPPORTING CEN- 